My version of The Golden Lily
by Ashaloo'Violet'Blueberry
Summary: When Belikov first walked through the door of Adrian's apartment, seeing Adrian go as pale as he did...I knew this was exactly what I wanted to avoid. Adrian had just started getting on track with his life, now who knew what was going to happen...
1. New Research Partner

**So this takes place after Bloodlines obviously. Doesn't exactly pick up where the last book left off but it'll explain what happens. Very short, I know, but it's only the first chapter. I'm gonna try making the others longer, but in the mean time…enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this series or any of the characters in this series, Richelle Mead does**

**Name the singer of this song = "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller. Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm a lone"**

"He did what?" After explaining to Jill what Abe had done, bringing a certain person with him as Adrian's new research partner, I realized it was more serious than I thought. Seeing Jill's eyes go wide in shock, it was clear that I wasn't stupid for worrying. Seeing as he was the guy who had "stolen" Adrian's ex girlfriend Rose, obviously bringing Guardian Dimitri Belikov was not the smartest decision Abe could make.

"Oh, this is bad. This is really bad." Jill jumped up from her bed and started pacing the room. "Can that old man get anymore crazy? What is he thinking? This will ruin everything Adrian's worked so hard for!"

It was funny how that was the exact same thing I was thinking when Belikov first walked through the door of Adrian's apartment. Seeing Adrian go as pale as he did, I knew this was exactly what I wanted to avoid. Adrian had just started getting on track with his life, cutting back on the smoking and drinking, and now who knew what was going to happen. The events from his past came to bite him in the ass, and we all know what happens when Adrian's put into a situation he can't get out of.

All that hard work he's done will go to waste…

"So why didn't you just talk to Abe about it?" Angeline piped in not-so-helpfully. Angeline Dawes was a dhampir from the Keepers, a group of wilds from the middle-of-know-where, West Virginia. She had also been brought with Abe to portray herself as my, Jill, and Eddie's cousin and was to help guard Jill.

"I did talk to Abe, but he kept insisting that everything was going to turn out all-so-great." Rolling my eyes, I shook my head, making my dark blond hair swoosh back and forth. "I'm as baffled about all of this as you are," I said to Jill. "But there's nothing we can do. Abe has his mind set on having Dimitri here."

"This is insane," Jill muttered, closing her eyes. When she opened them, she glanced at me and asked, "How did he take it?"

I shrugged. "You tell me. You're the one who knows what he's feeling."

Rolling her eyes, Jill said, "Yeah, well now that I've learned how to block his thoughts and feelings out of my head, I've actually been using that to my advantage…so no, I couldn't tell you how he took it."

So she wouldn't have known about the small temper tantrum Adrian threw when he found out he was going to be working with Dimitri. It happened as soon as he recovered from his own shock, his face going from surprised to being pissed.

"What's he doing here?" He asked, giving Dimitri an evil stare down. I, of course, was in my own little state of shock, so I didn't even make an attempt at calming Adrian. Though, from the look on his face, I was almost afraid Adrian was start something I knew he wouldn't be able to finish.

Abe smirked knowingly and gestured to the dhampir. "Guardian Belikov has agreed to come and help with the research." Then he looked at me, "Now Miss Sage, if you could so kindly take Angeline to Amberwood so she can get settled—"

"Wait! I'm not working with this guy." Adrian interrupted.

Abe put on a fake look of confusion. "And why not, Ivashkov?"

"Why not? He stole my girlfriend!" Adrian shot glares back and forth between Dimitri and Abe. "What? Am I suppose to just be all dandy about it and pretend it never happened?"

"Well, no. I suppose not, but I would have thought you'd be a little more professional about all of this."

Adrian scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah. Fat chance!"

"Adrian…" I finally broke out of my stance and looked at him with careful eyes. He stared at me in unison. "Adrian, please don't…"

"Are you taking their side Sage?"

"Wha-what? No! Are you kidding me?" I did my best to glare, but I was a little hurt by his accusations, which confused me. I mean, why should I care? It's not like I was expecting Adrian and I to being friends or anything. I was here strictly mission only. I had to keep my head in the game, not worrying about how people felt about me…especially a Moroi. "I'm not taking anyone's side here. I'm completely Switzerland!" Shaking my head, I looked at Abe and Dimitri. "No offence to you Guardian Belikov, but Abe…do you really think this a good idea?"

"I'm sure Ivashkov can get over what happened. We're all adults here." He continued smiling as if it was no big deal that these guys were fighting over his daughter. "Now, Miss. Sage. If you would…"

"Of course." I gave Adrian a meaningful glance before going to help Angeline with her bags. Once we had them in my station wagon, _Latte_ as I liked to call her, I told Agelina to just wait in the car and went back up to the apartment to talk to Abe.

"Miss Sage? I thought you were going to Amberwood…"

"I am, but I wanted to talk to you in private," I glanced around the room to find both Adrian and Dimitri missing. I secretly hoped they were off fighting somewhere.

"If you're here about my arrangements concerning Belikov and Adrian, I don't want to hear it."

I looked at him in shock. "How did you?—never mind. Listen Abe, I really don't think this is a good idea. I don't entirely know what you have planned for them, but whatever it is…couldn't you have found someone else to do it?"

Abe shook his head and smiled. "Miss Sage, trust me when I say I'm not doing this for my health." He went into the living room and sat in one of the reclining chairs. "I know the boy's have a little quarrel between themselves because of Rose…but you see, that's why I'm doing this.

Now it was my turn to look confused. "What? You want them to kill each other?"

Abe merely laughed. "No, Sydney. I want them to overcome their differences and learn to work together in spite of all that has happened."

If there was one thing I knew about Adrian, it was that he was stubborn. Nothing you said could make him change his mind on how her felt about a certain thing or person. For as long as I've know him, I've come to learn that there were only a few topics I could ever agree on with the guy. Keeping Jill safe was one of them.

"Do you really think that'll work? I mean, Adrian isn't the type guy to 'overcome his differences and work together.' He's stubborn as hell."

"That is true, but the boy knows better than to go against anything I say." Yeah, even I knew better than to go against anything he said. Still, I wouldn't figure Adrian to be the type to get over something this traumatic.

"So are you like trying to get a head start in a psychologist's career? 'Cause you kind of sound like a therapist right now."

He laughed again, but this time it was a little more comforting. "Well, I suppose I do sound like one, but no. My only interest right now to make my daughter happy…and if that means making the two men she cares the most about talk out their mutual feelings toward each other, well then that's what I'm gonna do."

"Wait, Rose knows you're doing this?" I asked with a slight sound of anger in my voice, which surprised me.

"No, Rose does not know I have Belikov and Adrian working together. She only knows that I have requested Dimitri for the research." Then cocking his head to the side, he said, "And I for one don't see how it would really matter to you Miss Sage."

Yeah, I didn't really know why it mattered to me either. I just threw it out there for some reason.

"It doesn't" I said, putting on my best poker face.

"Right."

So obviously Abe was a little suspicious of me then. He must have thought there was some jealousy behind my words, though that wasn't the case at all. At least, I'm pretty sure there wasn't, but who knew anymore. After that one moment with Adrian before all that went down in his apartment, my feelings for him seem to be going out of whack. _All because he called you beautiful?_ I definitely did not want to go down that road.

I left after my chat with Abe, and brought Angeline to Amberwood Prep where she was going to be rooming with Jill for who knows how long, and I was now going to be getting my own room. After checking my "cousin" in with the school's administration using a phony note from our "parents" I took Angeline up to our dorm. Jill was lounging on her bed watching TV when we got to the room. She looked up and smiled as we entered.

"Hey Sydney."

"Hey Jill…this is Angeline," I said gesturing to the girl already headed for the bathroom.

Jill smiled at Angeline and waved. "Hey roomie."

"Hi," Angeline muttered quietly and then disappeared behind the door.

Jill raised her brows at me and smirked. "Well she sure is friendly."

I shrugged. "That's Angeline for you."

"Huh, can't wait to get to know her then. So…how'd everything go at the apartment? I'm assuming Abe showed up?"

"Uh, yeah. He did…and he brought Adrian's new research partner with him."

"Really? Who?"

**Well you basically already know what happens. Jill freaks out! Well, sorta…anyway this is my first Fanfic in a long time so please be easy on me and no rude comments, only honest advice would be very much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Not sure when the next time I'll upload but I'll try to do so as soon as possible. Oh, and make sure to tell me who the singer of the song at the top is. It's pretty easy, but they'll get a lot harder as the story goes on. The first person to guess each one right will get a shout out on the very next chapter, and that goes the same with the person with the best review, so…don't forget to review! :D**

**Plzz and thnx!**

**_Ashaloo 3**


	2. Can we talk?

**Hey guys, so as I promised this one's a little longer than the last one, but if you still think I should make them longer, just tell me and I can totally do that for you…but hopefully you'll think it's perfect. It does jump to different parts though so you'll see a lot of that. And I got 3 reviews for my first chapter, which I guess is okay for it just being published, but hopefully there'll be a lot more as the story continues.**

**(And as promised) Shout Outs!**

**For the best review: **It'd have to _Pekopon Invader_, you gave me the best one because your right, I do need to change my title. I just don't know if I should just simply call it "The Golden Lily" or if I should create my very own original title for it. WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? And thnx for your honesty btw ^.^

**For the right answer to the quote: **_Mrs. Castile_, you rock! And I love the song too, might be singing for a music festival coming up in May, and thank you for the nice review :)

**And finally, because I might as well add you cuz it's only you left: **Thank you_ TheLittleDhampir, _this chapters for you! :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own this series or any of the characters in this series, Richelle Mead does**

**Name the singer of this song: "I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."**

"So there's really nothing we can do?" Jill asked, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her head like a little prep girl.

"According to Abe."

She threw her hands in the air. "Well, this is just great!" She exclaimed. "I mean, it took us this long to finally get him to quit drinking and start thinking straight, and now…" she trailed off and shook her head solemnly. "What's gonna happen Sydney?"

I could only stare, unsure of what to say, because I honestly didn't know what to say. I didn't know what was going to happen. All I knew was that if this was going to work, Adrian seriously needed to get over his ego, like now. I didn't want things getting out of control, and I certainly didn't want the Alchemists to questioning my ability to handle this mission. There was only one thing I knew I could do…

"I'm going talk to him," I said, standing up and heading for the door.

"Who, Abe? But I thought you said—"

"Not Abe."

A pause. "Oh" She took a deep breath. "Adrian?"

"Yeah."

Another pause, and then I watched her bite her bottom lip.

"What is it?" I asked.

She looked up and blushed. "Oh nothing…go ahead." She waved me off and turned to go into the bathroom. _Why is that bathroom so popular? _I was half tempted to wait around until she came back out, but then I realized what time it was. If I was going to get to the apartment, talk to him, and have enough time to get back before curfew, I needed to go now.

"I'll be back," I told Angeline, who was now just lounging on her new bed. She murmured an incoherent "okay" before I went out the door.

Sure enough, Adrian wasn't at his apartment when I knocked on the door. It was Abe who answered, and when I asked to speak with Adrian, I was told he had left.

"What do you mean he took off?"

"Well, he didn't really just take off. He told us where he was going."

I sighed in frustration. "And where would that be?"

"A bar, down the street." This came from Dimitri, who walked into the room in dark jeans and no shirt. I'll admit, despite the fact that he was part creature of the night; I found his body to be quite attractive. Just not enough to want him. Plus there was Rose, and I'd never want to have a faceoff with her over a dhampir.

"A bar? Are you serious?" I groaned and thanked them as I ran out the door to my _Latte. _Down the street was actually stretching it a lot considering it was actually eight blocks away, and down two allies. Plus it wasn't just a bar…it was also a mini bowling ally. "They trust drunk people with bowling balls?" I muttered under my breath as I walked into the lobby. I headed straight for the bar part, since I knew that's where he was going to be…but I didn't see him anywhere.

"No fair! I haven't done this since I was a kid…" I knew that voice, but it wasn't coming anywhere from in the bar…it was coming from the bowling part of the building. I followed the voice until I got to the last lane and sure enough, there was Adrian ready to roll a ball toward the pins. Not a single alcoholic drink was in sight and he looked completely sober. He was surrounded by a bunch of old men. Some of them had beer guts, but most of them reminded me of my seventy year old grandpa. I smiled and watched as Adrian went for his shot. His ball went straight into the gutter.

"I give up!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. My smiled turned into a laugh, and it was apparently loud enough to get Adrian's attention. He looked up and smiled when he saw me. For a minute, I felt kind of bad for thinking the worst of him. I probably should've trusted him and not assume he was going to be drinking.

"Hey Sage!" He started coming toward me. "What're you doing here?"

"I was actually looking for you." I smiled, glanced around once more, and then laughed again. "I didn't know you sucked at bowling."

He was right in front of me now. "Hey, the last time I went bowling was when I was eight. I'm a little out of practice so don't make fun of me." He was smiling though.

"I'd say that's an understatement," I laughed.

"Oh really? Well, then why don't you try a shot? See how much better you are at it…" He took a ball of the rack and held it up for me. "What do you say Sage?"

I was half tempted to jump at it, it looked like the type of fun I hadn't done in years, but then I remember my real reason I was there. "Actually Adrian, I wanted to talk to you…"

"C'mon Sage. Don't be such a party pooper." He put the ball up to my face. "Play a game with me and then we'll talk."

I hesitated, since clearly it wasn't the right thing to do. I had already been bitched out for supposably "fraternizing" with the Moroi and dhampir before, if anyone else from the Alchemists saw me here bowling with Adrian, I could lose everything I've worked so hard for. But then on the same note, what were the chances I'd run into another Alchemist?

"So? You gonna play?"

Finally with a deep sigh of reluctance I said, "Fine…hope you're ready to get your butt kicked."

"I can't believe you actually beat me," Adrian exclaimed as we headed back to _Latte. _We had ended the game with my victory win, a score of 115 points for me and 60 points for Adrian. Although he was a little crushed being defeated at first, he laughed it off as soon as we got to the car. "I have to hand it to you Sage, you really know how to make a guy look pitiful."

I raised my brows at him. "Is that suppose to be a sex joke?"

He laughed. "How was that perverted in anyway?"

"You know what I meant."

He glanced at me and smirked. "Yeah I know…but no, I meant you know how to handle yourself."

"For a girl?"

"For anyone…"

I didn't think anything of what he said, but I glanced at him and caught him staring into my eyes. A minute passed before I realized I was doing the same thing, and then I cleared my throat and started the engine. I could still feel his eyes borer onto me the whole way to his apartment. When we got back, I shut the engine off and turn toward him.

"So now we talk," I said anxiously.

Adrian turned his whole body toward me and nodded. "Okay."

I hesitated a minute, thinking of a way to start this. With my luck, and knowing Adrian, the first word that came out of my mouth was going to piss him off. I needed to arrange my words carefully. I didn't want to screw this up.

"So, I wanted to talk to about Abe's arrangements. You know…with you and Dimitri." At the mention of Dimitri's name, any humor that had been left on Adrian's face had disappeared. "And before you say anything, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not on anyone's side here. I'm not doing the whole Team Dimitri vs. Team Adrian thing. I just want to…suggest a few things."

Adrian lowered his eyes but not yet looking all that mad. "What kind of things?"

Shrugging, I said, "Well, for starters, how about instead of acting like a little kid who isn't getting his way…" I realized too late that I was taking this the wrong way. "You act like a mature adult who can get over his ego and forgive and forget." That's when I mentally slapped myself in the face. It was too late though, I already pissed him off. His face said it all…

"Is that what you think of me Sage?" He scowled out the window, refusing to meet my gaze. "You think I'm like some selfish little kid who's throwing a temper tantrum?" I didn't answer. I only stared and waited for him to look at me, but he wouldn't do it.

"All because I refuse to be all buddied up with the guy who actually 'caused me the worst pain of my life?…for as far as I can remember anyway." He shook his head, still refusing to look at me.

Sighing, I said, "I'm sorry. That came out wrong…"

"Sage you don't know what it's like." Now Adrian was looking at me, but not in the way I was expecting him to. The look of pain was written all over him. I tried not to take pity, but it was hard. "Losing the person you think your in love with isn't easy to get over. It's not like having your first high school crush breakup with you…or even your dog dying." Adrian paused and took a shallow breath. "It like losing the one and only person who keeps you happy anymore. She was only person who kept me happy for the longest time, and so I tried to keep her happy…" Now anger replaced the look of pain. "But that's what I learned. No matter how nice you are to people, all they're ever going to do in take advantage of you. They'll rip your heart out and then trample on it. Kick you to the curb." Now he looked up at his apartment. "And that's what she did…because of him," he said fiercely, his eyes blazing with fury.

And despite my understanding for him being mad, I still had to tell him as it was. "Adrian you can't hate him forever…"

"Why not? I was never a big fan in the first place."

I tried a different approach. "But you can't spend your whole life moping and bitching because of what happened in the _past. _You need to swallow it up and do the responsible thing here. Even if you despise the guy…he's still on the same team as you." Now I waited with all that out there, anxious for what he had to say to that. There wasn't much left I could give to him, so if he decided he'd rather not take my advice, then that was only going to affect him. He could sit and mope about how life isn't fair all he wanted. As long as he didn't drink on Jill's behalf, I could care less. A minute went by, but there was nothing but an eerie silence. It made me nervous when that happened between the two of us, since normally I couldn't get Adrian to shut up. Oh, how I wish we could just jump over all this and avoid it altogether. Then we'd be having a normal conversion here now…not this awkward and sorry one.

"I'm only trying to make this better for you," I finally said.

Adrian looked at me with sad eyes, but smiled otherwise. "Because you care so much."

"I care enough…"

He nodded, lowering his eyes again. Then he said, "Okay…what do I have to do."

I got back to Amberwood five minutes after curfew, but was able to sneak past the dorm matron, Mrs. Weathers. Tiptoeing in the hallway, I went to check on Jill and Angeline before going to my own room, which was now at the end of the hall. The girls were both asleep, but one of them had left a table lamp on. I shut it off before quietly slipping back out of the room.

After getting in my nightwear, I snuggled up with my lady bug pillow pet in my new bed and listened to only the sound of my breathing. It already felt weird not having Jill in the same room with me, not being able to use her awkward sleeping sounds to fill the empty quietness. It was hard to getting sleep too. An hour passed before I even started getting drowsy, and then another fifteen minutes before I actually fell asleep. And then as I was dreaming, a dream I knew was actually mine and not some magic manifested one, I heard a low voice in the back of my conscious who's voice I immediately recognized and knew by heart before everything went blank…

"Thanks Sage."

**So there you have it! Might have the next chapter up by either Monday or Tuesday…but no promises, so nobody harass me about it any of those two days. Oh and don't forget to answer the quote's singer above, first person get's a shout out :D and so does the best review (hopefully I get more than 3 this time, lol)**

**Later!**

**_Ashaloo**


	3. The new guy

**So I realize this chapters a little short, but your finally to get to meet a certain character in here that will be showing up in the actual "The Golden Lily" novel when Richelle Mead publishes it, but I didn't know what he was suppose to act or look like except that he supposed to be a braniac, so this is my version of the new character. Totally made up (especially the coming from Oklahoma part) but still owned by Richelle.**

**Shout Outs!  
>For the best review: <strong>It was hard to choose but this shout out goes to _gabyckaz, _you rock! Thnx for the reviews, here's the next chapter for you  
><strong>For the right answer to the quote: <strong>_Mrs. Castile,_ you were the first right again! :) And thank you for your support, you're the best!

**Disclaimer: I do not own this series or any of the characters in this series, Richelle Mead does**

**Name the singer of this song: "But I set fire to the rain. Watched it pour as I touched your face. Well, it burned while I cried 'cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name."**

"Morning sleeping beauty," Eddie said when I met him in the cafeteria the next morning. Jill and Angeline were already in line for their food but Eddie saved us a table and was watching their stuff, so when I sat down and put my head in my hands due to the lack of sleep I got from last night, he was the first the notice my pale face and baggy eyes.

"Hey Eddie, where's Micah?"

"Running late this morning." He looked up to see if the girls had gotten their stuff yet, they were still deciding what drinks to get. Looking back at me, he said, "He's getting something for Jill. I'm not sure what it is, so don't ask."

I looked at him uneasily. "Why?"

"I said don't ask—"

"…What it is. I didn't. I asked why?"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "You think if I don't know what he's getting her that I'd know why he's getting it for her?"

"Well yeah. Did he give you any clues as to why he's doing it?"

"Nope."

"Well that's just great." I knew Micah was falling too far for Jill, but now it seems like it's going to be a major problem now. With Jill being a Moroi and Micah being a human, there's no way they could be a couple. Well…they could, but it's better to say they couldn't for my state of mind. Also, with Jill here being under a type of "protection program" that she is, it's just better for her not to become involved with anyone we don't want let in to our little "secret". "You know we're gonna have to do something, right?"

Eddie shrugged. "Actually, I wasn't planning on doing anything. It's his choice; let him get her a present."

"But he might have some serious feelings for her!"

"Yeah, so?"

I raised a brow at him. "So you're absolutely okay with them dating?"

Eddie sighed. "Sydney, haven't we already been over this?"

I couldn't believe. I knew Eddie had feelings for Jill. I could tell now more than ever. But here he was, ready to give her up so he could keep his Mason-look-alike new best friend. After everything I told him, and still after everything we knew…about how Jill shouldn't be dating any humans here.

"Eddie—"

"Hey Sydney!" Jill and Angeline came strolling toward the table with a tray full of food in their hands. "How'd you sleep last night? Glad you got your own room again?" I laughed with her, even though I wanted to beg Angeline for my bed back. But it was only the first night, maybe things would get better.

"So are we going over to Clarence's tonight?" Jill asked, biting into a cream cheese bagel. Eddie had now gone to get food so it was just us girls.

"Yeah, for your feeding and so we can see how Adrian's doing."

Jill paused. "Oh right. You talked to him last night?" I nodded. "What'd he say?"

"He agreed to do it."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Jill looked a little shocked at first, which I didn't really blame her for. I was starting to doubt whether or not I could actually get him to agree towards the end. After a few seconds Jill nodded and bit her bagel again.

"That's good."

Then she was silent, but I paid attention to her the rest of breakfast. As soon as I mentioned Adrian, she reacted the same way she did last night when I mentioned talking to him. Something was off about her, and I wanted to know what it was, but with Eddie and Angeline there, I figured it would probably be best brought up some other time. Most likely a touchy subject.

"Hey guys!" Micah Vallence walked up to our table and sat down between Jill and Eddie. I saw Eddie flinch but then compose himself enough to seem perfectly happy.

"Hey Micah, where were you?" Jill asked after downing the rest of her iced coffee.

"Oh, uh…I had to stop by the gym and help Miss Carson set out the lacrosse equipment for PE." He lied smoothly.

"What's lacrosse?" Jill asked, looking worried out of her mind…though she, of course, wasn't the best at physical sports with her klutzy traits and what not.

"It's a sport. The goaling's kinda set up like soccer, but instead of kicking a ball around, you have to toss a small rubber ball into your teammates lacrosse stick."

"Lacrosse stick?" Jill just looked confused now.

Micah laughed and bumped his shoulder to hers. "I'll explain later," he said with a grin.

She smiled at him and nodded. "Thanks."

And as we all set out to go to our first period of the day, I pulled Jill aside quick and said, "Hey Jill, can I talk to you later?"

"Sure, what about?"

I shrugged. "Just a few things, nothing to worry about now."

"Okay, how bout at lunch?"

"Okay."

"Great! See ya later Syd!" And then she left.

…

I went to first period, ancient history with Ms. Terwilliger, almost late at that because of how tired I was. Eddie was already there when I walked through the door and sat down next him.

"You okay?" he asked with genuine concern. I nodded and turn to pay attention to Mrs. Terwillinger as she started her lecture about the Hellenistic World. Another thing I all ready had memorized.

"Alexander the Great had the biggest effect on the Hellenistic cultures due to his ventures for the Persian Empire. It was Alexander's settlement of the Greek colonists and the resulting spread of the Greek culture in the east that resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization." Mrs. Terwillinger walked around the room as we all took notes. She stopped at my desk and smiled. "Ah, Sydney. Would you please name each of the major Hellenistic realms included in the Diadoch kingdoms for the class?"

I swallowed and nodded…I had this. "There was the Kingdom of Ptolemy I Soter, Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus I Nicator, and—"

"The region of Epirus," came an interrupting voice from the back of the room near the door. Everyone, including me and Mrs. Terwillinger, turned to see that two guys had just walked in. Trey Juarez was one of them. The guy with him I didn't recognize, but he was the one who had spoken.

"Ah. Mr. Juarez, you're late…and who would you're friend here be?" She inclined her head toward the stranger. The guy was tall and somewhat muscular. He had light brown hair and an attractive face with sharp edges, but what drew me to him the most were his eyes. They were the most vivid color of brown I'd ever seen…almost like caramel, and they were peering into mine with compulsory and intensity. He was looking at me, smiling genuinely, making me blush. I had to look away.

"This is Brayden. He's a transfer from Oklahoma." Trey went to his seat and left the new guy standing alone, he didn't look like he felt out of place though.

"Well Brayden, it's a pleasure to have you in my class. We were just learning about the Hellenistic time, though, it appears you all ready know a little something about that…are you interested in ancient history?"

Brayden laughed smoothly, and it was a type of laugh that would make any girl's heart drop. A few girls practically swooned around me. I probably would've done the same if Trey and Eddie weren't looking at the others in disgust. I tried to pull my face together and look uninterested but with Brayden's eyes still on me, it was almost impossible to do.

"I'm into all history actually." He focused his attention on Mrs. Terwillinger. "I mean, I'm good in other subjects, but I'll probably end up going to college for a History Major."

"How interesting." She smiled brightly and then gestured toward me. "Sydney here also does well around this subject. She's one of my best students."

"Teachers pet…" a student on the other side of the room fake cough-sneezed. I glared in their direction to keep myself from blushing again.

"She's been working as my assistant for the last few weeks. I'm writing a book on heretical religion and whatever magic there may be in the Greco-Roman world." At the mention of magic, I tensed up. After my last experience with Terwillinger's magic experiment, I swore off all her stupid little tests all together. If she wanted another amulet made like the last time, she was going to have to get someone else to make it for her.

"The Greco-Roman? Fascinating topic." He looked back at me and grinned. "I know plenty about the Greco-Roman period."

Before I could say anything Mrs. Terwillinger exclaimed, "How wonderful!" Then looking back and forth between Brayden and I. "Then maybe you'd be interested in helping Sydney assist me," she said hopefully.

Brayden laughed again and I smiled despite my best attempt. Honestly, I was being hopeful too. I wasn't sure if it was because of how smart he seemed, or because how attractive he was, but I might have been forming a small crush on the guy…which never happens in my case. Never once have I ever really thought about a guy other than a friend or a business partner, until now really. "Yeah, I'm sure I have some spare time after school and stuff."

"Excellent! Well, why don't you take a seat Brayden, anywhere you'd like…and please do inform us on what you know about our history topic for this unit." This seemed to have brightened Mrs. Terwillinger's whole day. She beamed a million dollar smile and went about class as cheerful as possible.

I went back to taking notes then, but completely aware that Brayden had chosen the empty seat diagonally behind me, right behind Eddie. I felt his eyes on my back as I hunched over desk, using my hair to hide my face. I did my best to ignore it, but every time I thought about it, I would blush. This was going to be a long period.

_What is wrong with me?_

…

"Ohmagod! Sydney, have you seen the totally hot new guy!" Julia and Kristin ran up to me at lunch nearly collapsed over the guy the entire period.

"Have you seen his eyes? Oh, I could swim in them…" Julia sighed.

"And he's so smart! He used to be on the scholastic decathlon's team in Oklahoma and he helped them get first in their last competition…" Kristin giggled.

"Oh, how I would love to put my hands on those triceps of his." Julia practically fainted thinking about it.

"It's too bad he's got a thing for Sydney." My head shot up at the sound of my name and I found Kristin staring at me with a knowing smile on her face.

"What?"

"Oh, c'mon Syd! Everyone's talking about it! The guy is practically swooning over you." That's funny, since that's how I described every girl following Brayden around.

"He is not. He doesn't even know me."

"He doesn't have to know you. People are saying he was completely captured by your smartness in Terwillinger's." Julia sniggered and swaggered her eye brows up and down.

"I don't want a guy to like me because I'm book smart." I rolled my eyes and stood from the table. "I'm going to go to my dorm, I'll see you later." And with that I headed off.

I was on my out of Amberwood's main school building when I was turning a corner in the hall and I ran right into someone's chest. I stumbled back and would've gone down on my butt if the person in front of me hadn't have caught me.

"Woah, easy there." Brayden steadied me, keeping his hands on my arms. I blushed once I realized who it was, and once I realized I had just embarrassed myself by running into him. _Could this day get any worst?_

"You okay? Sydney, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Cool. You okay?"

I nodded again. "Yeah."

"Good." But he kept his hands on my forearms like he was expecting me to collapse. I looked up into his caramel colored eyes and tried not to let the color go to my face again. _Why do you keep blushing?_

"I'm okay, really. You just have a really hard chest." I realized a moment too late what I just said. I wanted to stick tape over my mouth and bury myself in a hole. That was how embarrassed I felt.

Brayden looked flattered though. He laughed and placed a hand over his chest. "Thanks. So, were you going to see Mrs. Terwillinger?" I could see how he would think that since I was headed in that direction.

"Um, no. I was actually going to hang out at my dorm until lunch period was done."

"Oh, okay. Well, I was going to go get some coffee at Spencer's, heard they had the best in town," he smiled his attractive smile and shrugged halfheartedly. "You wanna come with?"

I almost jumped right in at the offer despite my attempt to being subtle. I swear, I suck at being under pressure. It seemed like a good idea to me, since I was in a serious need of my latte, but then it struck me that it might not be the best idea to get involved with any guys while I was on a mission. This was suppose to be a job, not a social connection. And as much as I wanted to, I needed decline his offer.

"I would love to, but I really can't. I have homework I need to get done."

Brayden looked a little disspointed but shrugged it off. "Okay, maybe some other time then?"

I couldn't promise anything. "Maybe."

"Okay, I'll see you around Sydney." And with a final dazzling smile, he waved and walked around.

...

Jill was exactly where I thought she'd be, only this time Angeline wasn't with her.

"Hey, Jill. Where's Angeline?"

"She kinda ditched me for soccer snobs."

"Really?"

Jill shrugged. "I don't care, it's not like I need her to babysit me. Plus, I have you I can hangout with…unless you wanna ditch me too?"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Wasn't planning on it."

Jill laughed. "Well you know you can hangout with other people if you want. This doesn't always have to be about me. Hey, maybe you can go hang out with that new guy everyone keeps talking about."

I glared. "You heard about that too?"

"Are you kidding my Syd? The whole school's gushing about it. Apparently this kid is a big deal where he came from. Plus, he's a total hottie." Hearing that made me feel kind of stupid for declining his offer to hang out. If Jill found out what I'd done, she rip my throat out, which I was quite fond of.

"No kidding."

Jill rolled her eyes and went to lounge on her bed. I layed down with her. "So, you wanted to talk to me you said?"

I nodded. "Yeah, about a few things actually."

"Okay."

She peered at me and waited for me to start. "So, first I kinda wanted to ask you if you were having some kind of mixed feeling about the whole Adrian situation." _Wow, way to make it sound like Adrian's some type of disease._

Jill stiffened next to me and sighed. "What would make you say that?"

"Well, look at how you react every time I bring him up. Are you guys okay? Your not fighting are you?"

Jill rolled her eyes again. "No. We're fine, it's just…I don't know Sydney. I guess I'm just getting a little worn out from all the blocking I'm trying to do. It's not easy pushing his thoughts and feeling out of my head…especially when I'm tempted to just let them all in so I can see how he's really feeling about all this."

I cocked my head to the side confused. "What would happen if you did?"

She shook her head. "Nothing good. Rose says it's not good to let your bonding mate's emotions to enter you all at the say time. It can do some serious damage to my metal stability."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so sorry if I've been freaking you out lately. It's just that the whole Adrian thing's got me worried. I don't want him going off the deep end, you know?"

I nodded in agreement. "God forbid that should happen."

Jill laughed and nodded and then scooted closer to me so we were both touching arm-to-arm. My natural response was to tense up every time a Moroi or dhampir touch me. After growing up and learning the ways of an alchemist, you kind become paranoid. Instead, though, I smiled at Jill, half tempted to let her put her arm around me…but that probably would've pushed it.

"So what else?"

"Huh?"

"You said you had a few things to talk to me about. What's next?"

"Oh." I wanted to bring up the issue with Micah, but I really didn't want to ruin the good moment we were having then. And the last time I discussed relationship things with her about him, we almost got into a fight, so I decided to let it drop. "Oh, it's nothing really…it can wait."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well, I'm starved. Wanna get something to eat?"

I rolled my eyes again and smiled. "Sure. C'mon piggy." And we headed back to the cafeteria.

**So I know that was a poor chapter ending but I was kinda in rush to get this done, even though I know better than to do that. Next time, I promise not to rush it though. So just make sure you guys review, tell me the name of the singer from the above song, and I will have the next chapter up here as soon as I can. I'm thinking sometime this weekend at the earliest.**

**Later peeps! :)**

**_Ashaloo**


End file.
